71. What Vice-President was not elected by the people?
Richard Mentor Johnson, of Kentucky, in 1837. No candidate for the Vice-Presidency received a majority of the electoral votes, and, according to the terms of the Constitution, the selection fell upon the Senate, who elected Johnson.
72. What Vice-President did not serve?
William Rufus King, of Alabama, who was elected in 1852. Owing to his poor health, he went to Cuba to spend the winter of 1852–53. The oath of office was administered to him there by the American consul, but he died April 18, 1853, soon after his return from the island to his plantation at Cahawaha, Ala.
73. When and by whom was the Antarctic Continent discovered?
On Jan. 16, 1840, by the United States Exploring Expedition, under the command of Lieut. Charles Wilkes (1801–1877). The land was first seen from the mast-head. This was in latitude 61° 30″ south, and longitude 161° east. Wilkes traced the coast westward to 101° east, but was prevented from landing by an impassable barrier of ice.
74. What led to the establishment of the “Order of the Garter”?
The Order of the Garter was instituted by King Edward III. It was one of the most famous of the military orders of Europe. Selden says that it “exceeds in majesty, honor, and fame all chivalrous orders in the world.” It is said to have been devised for the purpose of attracting to the king’s party such soldiers of fortune as might be likely to aid in asserting the claim which he was then making to the crown of France, and to have been intended as an imitation of King Arthur’s Round Table. The original number of knights of the garter was twenty-five, his Majesty himself making the twenty-sixth. The story that the Countess of Salisbury let fall her garter when dancing with the king, and that the king picked it up and tied it round his own leg, but that, observing the jealous glances of the queen, he restored it to its fair owner, with the exclamation, “Honi soit que mal y pense” (Evil be to him who evil thinks), is about as well authenticated as most tales of the kind, and has, moreover, in its favor, that it accounts for the otherwise unaccountable emblem and motto of the order.
75. How do you determine the years covered by a given Congress?
To determine the years covered by a given Congress, double the number of the Congress, and add the product to 1789; the result will be the year in which the Congress closed. Thus, the forty-fifth Congress equals 90 plus 1789 equals 1879, that being the year which terminated the forty-fifth Congress, on the 4th of March. To find the number of a Congress sitting in any given year, subtract 1789 from the year; if the result is an even number, half that number will give the Congress of which the year in question will be the closing year. If the result is an odd number, add one to it, and half the result will give the Congress, of which the year in question will be the first year.